13 February 2014

Nokia Android Phone Coming, without Google Android Apps

Expri editor's note: Don't get too excited if you're a Nokia fan, this sounds like another stupid move -- "The Nokia phones will differ from most other Android smartphones, and won't access some Google-developed features or Android apps from the Google Play storefront, said the people familiar with the matter. Instead, the phone will come installed with digital services created by Nokia and Microsoft, including mapping service Here and streaming music service MixRadio, as well as a Nokia application store." (source infra) --Nokia Prepares to Release Android Phone Ahead of Sale to Microsoft - WSJ.com: "....The decision to release the Android phone underscores how badly Microsoft and Nokia each miscalculated in the mobile market. For technical reasons, Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system doesn't yet work on the low-cost smartphones that have become big sources of growth, particularly in emerging markets...."T-Mobile Moto X gets Android 4.4.2 update first | Mobile - CNET News: " . . . It's worth noting that T-Mobile technically doesn't offer its own version of the Moto X handset. Indeed, the carrier pushes customers directly to Motorola to purchase the company's unlocked GSM model. Because of this, I'll bet this particular model will be first concerning future updates as well. As for the other carrier branded models of the Moto X and their respective 4.4.2 update, Motorola lists them as "coming soon."..."
Google, VMware, Chromebooks --News Releases | United States: " . . . . at VMware Partner Exchange 2014, VMware announced that it is joining forces with Google to modernize corporate desktops for the Mobile Cloud Era by providing businesses with secure, cloud access to Windows applications, data and Desktops on Google Chromebooks. This expanded relationship between Google and VMware enables enterprise customers to achieve greater security and lower Total Cost of Ownership of Google Chromebooks along with cloud access to current and legacy applications, delivered on the industry proven Desktop as a Service (DaaS) platform from VMware. "Google Chromebooks can save businesses about $5,000 per computer when compared to traditional PCs," said Amit Singh, President of Google Enterprise. "Chromebooks are designed for the way people use computers today and are a secure, easy and cost-effective solution to help organizations embrace a new way of doing business. Through our partnership with VMware, businesses can now capitalize on these advantages with access to legacy applications, data and desktops they need to keep employees productive. . . ."IBM layoffs strike first in India; workers describe cuts as 'slaughter' and 'massive' :: Editor's Blog at WRAL Tech Wire: "IBM's latest $1 billion "rebalancing," as described by its CFO last month, is underway. And the first country hit is India, based on reports from Blue Blue workers there on Tuesday. The so-called "Resource Action" struck in the country where IBM reportedly employs its greatest number of workers. One employee describes the layoff process as a "slaughter.""

Bing censoring Chinese language search results for users in the US | Technology | theguardian.com: "English and Chinese language queries for terms such as ‘Dalai Lama’ return radically different results on Microsoft search engine . . . Google, by contrast, generates broadly similar results for both English and Chinese searches. For Dalai Lama in Chinese it offers two Wikipedia pages as the top results followed by a series of news reports, one from Tibet."How Netflix and Google Could Lead the Fight For Net Neutrality
Wired
As the President's Day weekend approaches, Americans are preparing to show their patriotism by binge-watching the new season of House of Cards, the hit political drama served up by Netflix. And according to new data from the video streaming outfit, there's ...Is Twitter's Design Test About Following Facebook?
Bloomberg
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg News' Sarah Frier examines Twitter's test of a redesign and how it resembles the user experience of Facebook on Bloomberg Television's “Bloomberg West.” Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by ...Google Backs Major Effort To Rein In NSA
Huffington Post
Google, along with Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL, had previously signed onto a letter applauding the sponsors of the USA Freedom Act without endorsing the bill outright. Some of those companies recently hired a lobbyist to focus ...

Google exec sees Android journey to Internet of Things
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO - Google's Android system is in the early stages of becoming an operating system for many more things than just smart phones and tablet computers, an executive at the online search giant said on Wednesday. During a talk at the Goldman ...

Apple Said to Plan New TV Box Amid Time Warner Cable Talks
Bloomberg
In the market for digital set-top boxes, Apple is competing against Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)'s Xbox One and ... Its viewing app is already available on Apple's iPad and tablets running Google Inc.'s Android software, as well as Roku and Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Google plans aerospace and robotics projects for Hangar One
San Jose Mercury News
MOUNTAIN VIEW -- If you were Google, what would you do with a 350,000-square-foot hangar that was originally built to house helium airships for the U.S. Navy? How about using its cavernous interior for building and testing new robots, planetary rovers ...

Apple loses smartphone market share to cheaper phones
MarketWatch
Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone was at No. 3 with 3%, followed by BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) with 2%. ... IDC analyst Ramon Llamas wrote thatGoogle's Android “relied on its long list of [manufacturing] partners, a broad and deep collection of ...

Giant Laser Complex Makes Fusion Advance, Finally
New York Times
After years of disappointing results and missed deadlines, a $5 billion laser complex has now achieved a step that revives optimism that thermonuclear fusion, the same process that powers the sun, can one day be harnessed for almost limitless energy.